Programming contract?

Question

I made up a contract with a computer programmer to do some work for me. I gave him a large deposit up front and didn't hear from him much after that. Our contract stated he had a certain amount of time to finish and he did nothing. I want to take him to small claims for the deposit back. I know from learning law that I can go after him for the difference it costs me to hire someone else and the money I lost from his programming not being completed on time. My question is does this still apply with just a deposit/partial payment or did I have to pay him the entirety of the agreement to pursue my money back and further losses?

Answer 1

The amount you would recover is the costs of what it actually took to pay someone else (cash outlay) plus what you paid him for work that he didn't do -- minus the amount that you would have paid him to do the work.

In other words, you can get the extra it cost to find someone else, and you can recover what he was paid for work he never did. Plus costs.

But that's all -- your final out-of-pocket is going to be what you agreed to pay for the work in the first place.

You do not need to pay him in full -- because he breached the contract first by failing to perform the work. That excused you from having to complete your side of it (paying him).

Answer 2

There was a contract and he didn't fulfill his side. You are entitled to recover the costs that this caused you. End of story!